Manure-spreader.



M. J. VINGUM. MANURE SPREADER. APPLICATION FILED 001 .16, 1911.

1,102,462, Patented July 7,1914.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

M. J. VINGUM.

MANURE SPREADER.

APPLIGATION IILED'OOT. 16, 1911.

1,102,462, Patented July 7,1914.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

M. J. VINGUM.

MANURE SPREADER.

APPLICATION FILED 0011s, 19:}1.

1,102,462. Pa entqd July 7,1914

a SiiEETS-SHEET 3.

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MARTIN J. .VINGUM, OF STOUGH TQN, WISCONSIN, ASSIGNOR 'lO MOLINE PLOWCOMPANY, A CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

MANURE-SBREADER.

To (ZZZ whom it may concern Be it known that I, MARTIN J. VINGUM, acitizen of the United States, residing at Stoughton, in the county ofDane and State of "Wisconsin, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Manure-Spreaders, of which the following is aspecification, relorence being had therein to the accompanyingdrawing. pY

This invention relates to manure spreaders of the type in which thematerial is fed to the action oi? the distributing mechanism, and by thelatter spread broadcast over the ground. Machines of this general typeembody usually a wagon body provided with supporting wheels by which itmay be drawn over the field, and by which, motion imparted to theoperative parts, the wagon body being formed with suitable means formoving or feeding the material therein toward the rear end, at whichpoint the body is provided with a distributing mechanism very commonlyin the form of a rotary drum with distributing teeth, the rotation. of

- which, acts to detach the material from the end of a mass and throwthe same upwardly and rearwardly from the body and over the surface ofthe ground. It isa desideratum in these machines that the wagon body bedeep, so as to hold a large quantity of material, but this oilerstheobjection that there must be employed a large distributing cylinder anddriven at a high rate of speed to take care of a large massmi material.Furthermore, the clogging of the distributing mechanism by the compactedmaterial containing large chunks is apt to occur, resulting in injury"toand strain on the driving mechanism.

It is the aim of my invention to provide a manure spreader in which alarge body of material may be handled without danger of clogging or riskof strain on or damage to the driving mechanism, and my inventionconsists broadly in means, cooperating with the distributing mechanism,for breaking up the material it approaches the distributing mechanismand for feeding the same in its broken up condition thereto.

My intention in its broader aspects may be carried out in llcrent iormsof embodiment, that shown o l but one form by way of example, and theconstruction which I prefer to adopt. manifest, therefore, that theinvention li; not limited to the par- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed Uctober 16, 1911.

lfatented July 7, 11914 Serial No. 554,930.

ticular formand construction of the parts shown, and it will beunderstood that the mvention is not limited to any particulararrangement or details of the parts except in so far as such limitationsare specified in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings :-Figure 1 is a side elevation oi the rearportion of a manure spreader, constructed infaccorda-nce with myinvention. Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is alongitudinal sectional elevation on the line a--a of Fig. 2.

In the form of mechanism shown in the drawings, 1 represents a wagonbody or receptacle supported by ground wheels 2 and adapted to containthe material to be distributed, the rear end of the body being open andcontaining in this open end a distributing mechanism 3 in the front of ahorizontal rotary drum or cylinder provided on its surface witha seriesof distributihg teeth 4-, which drum is adapted to be driven in anysuitable manner, for instance from the ground wheels through th mediumof a driving chain, and in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig.l. The wagon body or box is provided with suitable means. for feedingthe material therein rearwardly to the action of the distributingmechanism, such means being for instance inthe form of the usualconveyor apron 5', on which the material rests and which is so driven bysuitable means not shown, that the upper portion of the apron will moverearwardly. By the mechanism described, the distributing cylinder beingrotated, and the apron set 'in motion, the mass of material filling thebox and resting on the apron will be moved slowly rearwardly and itsrear end presented to the action of the distributing mechanism, with theresult that portions of the material will be detached from the mass andforcibly thrown by.the teeth upwardly and rcarwardly from the wagon.

In order that the material will be presented to the action of thedistributing mechanism in the condition most favorable for its properdistribution, that is in a uniformly divided and broken-up condition,tree from large chunks, I provide the mechanism shown in the drawingsand which, in'cooperation with the distributing mechanism, constitutesmy invention. This mechanism is arranged in advance of the distributingmechanism so as to act on the upper portion of the material as itapproaches the distributer, and in its preferred form it consists of anumber of fore andnft extending rake bars 6, 6 6', 6, etc, arranged sideby side and provided. with depending rake teeth 7, 7, etc. These rakebars are arranged in two series, those of one series being provided attheir forward ends with bearings S mounted on cranks 9, etc, while therake bars of the other series are provided with bearings 10 mounted oncranks 11, 11, etc, alternating with the first named cranks, whichcranks project in opposite directions fromthe axis of the crank shaft13, As a result, the rotation of the crank she-ft will cause. the twoseries of rake bars to be reciprocated alterntztely in oppositedirections. At their rear extremities the rake bars terminate adjacentthe field ofaction of the distributing mechanism,st which. point theyare suspended,ea 3h by means of two links 1eil4r, from an overlyingtransverse supporting bar 15 resting upon the side walls of the wagonbody,

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which bar has connected with its opposite ends the forward ends of armsl616 which extend forwardly and are mounted loosely on the axiallysiined journals of the crank shaft 13 before alluded to. The lower endsof the suspei'iding links are provided on opposite sides of the Mikebars on e horizon.- tal transverse axis, while the upper ends arepivoted to the supporting bar on an axis parallel therewith, the resultbeing that as the crank shaft is rotated and the front ends-of the rakebars carried around in a circular path, the rear ends of the rake barswill swing back and forth subject to the supporting and guiding actionof the links. 'lherake bars arranged and operated in the mannerdescribed, {Lot on the upper portion of the mass of material as thelatter approaches the distributing mechanism and in such manner that themeterial acted on will be broken up by the teeth on the .bars and inthis condition, and by reason of the reciprocating action of the bars,the material will be fed uniformly, evenly and effectively to thedistributing mechanism. In the operation of the rake bars b the rotarycranks, and by reason of the r linked suspension, the upper teeth of thebars will be entirely out of the manure in their upward movement andwill penetrate the material deeply and firmly in their downwardmovement, the lower teeth being more or less embedded in the material t2111 times, so that the material is broken,- u and out apart ahd reducedto a state of fineness by the time it reaches the distributingmechanism. I i

By reason of the fact that the supporting bar 15 is suspended by meansofthe nd arms from the axis of the crank shaft, this bar may rise andfall, and itis held yieldmaterial in the ingly down to its lowermostposition, resting cn the upper edges of the walls of the wagonbody, bymeans of two springs 17- 17, onev at each end of the bar, the upper endsof the springs being connected with the bar and the lower ends connectedwith bmckets tired to the sides of the Wagon body. The springs are ofsuch tension that' the bar will be held in operative position so as toproperly sustain the suspending links, but will allow the bar to yieldvertically in the event of undue pressure on the rake bars, which'mightbe caused. by the accumulation of material beneath the rake bars, theyielding otxthe bar 15 permitting the rake bars to move upwardly in.series and bodily away from the mess of material.

The crank shaft 13 may be driven in any suitable manner in the directionindicated by the arrow, in order to impart to'the rake bars their propermotion. In the drawings l'have shown one end of the shaft as beingprovided with a, sprocket wheel 13* under which 1s passed a drivingsprocket chem 13" from any suitwhich may receive its power able sou-roe,

By reason of "the action of? the rake bars on the material as itapproaches the distributing mechanism, the material is not only brokenup and finely divided, but it is gradually ted in this condition in a.uniform manner, to the action of the distributing teeth. As a result itis not necessary to drive the beater cylinder at such high rate of speedas is customary, because the resistance it encounters-is b 211 imro'ved' mechanism, materially reduced and. the material in its finelydivided form is thrown out without undue or dang rous strain ,on thedistributor and the parts driving the same. By metrics ,of my improvedmechanism and as a result of the advantages and actions stated, ll amenabled to employ a wagon body or box of unusual depth, with acorrespondingly great capacity-{end this without the necessity ofdriving the beater drum at a high rate of'speed, or of employing a largebeater drum, or ofruuuing any risk or liability oi theclogging orstoppage of the mechanism. 'Having thus described my invention, What Iclaim is y i 1. In i manure spreader, the combination too ofadistributing mechanism, means for feed;

ing the material thereto, and a series of fore and aft longitudinallyextending reci rolengt ranged to act on the upper portion of the generaldirection of its feedmg movement. I

2. In a manure spreader and in combination with distributing mechanism,means for feeding the material thereto, aseries of fore and aft rakebars, rotary driving means conin rear of the driving means.

3. In a manure spreader and in combination with distributing mechanism,meansfor feeding the material thereto, a series of reciprocating rakebars inposition to act on the material as it approaches the distribut=ing mechanism, said rake bars being yieldable ,bodily to and from thedistributing mechanism.

4. In a manure spreader, the combination of a frame, a distributinmechanism thereon, means for feeding t e material to the action of thedistributing mechanism, a series of fore and aft reciprocating rake barsarranged to act on the material in ad vance of the distributingmechanism, driving cranks mounted in the frame and con nected with theforward ends of said rake bars, a transverse bar sustained by the frameabove the rear ends of the rake bars and movable vertically, swinginglinks suspending the rake bars from the transverse bar, and means forholding the transverse bar down yieldingly.

5. In a manure spreader, the combination of a frame, a distributingmechanism thereon, means on the frame for feeding the manure rearwardlyto the distributing mechanism, two series of fore and aft extendingreciprocating rake bars provided with dependingrake teeth, said barsbeing arranged so that their teeth will act on the upper portion of thebody of manure in advance of the distributing mechanism, two sets ofdriving cranks connected respectively with the two series of rake bars,and means for rotating the cranks to cause the two series of rake barsto move rearwardly and downwardly and then forwardly and upwardlyrespectively in alternation; whereby the upper portion of the materialwill, as it approaches the distributing mechanism, be subjected to acombined pulverizing and feeding action.

In testimony whereofI have aifixed my,

signature in presence of two witnesses.

MARTIN J. VINGUM.

Witnesses:

G. H. CARVER, H. -H. HANSEN.

